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Has anyone had experiences good or bad with speaker isolation or isolation in general ?

hi
i have been enjoying buying and listening to hifi for some 35 years now and have seen many items come and go.I have also been interested in the audio cable discussions and i agree that cables do make a difference how much of a difference is a very individual, and a system dependent situation. There has been nothing that has got me so excited and improved the sound of my system that has ever made me want to really share it with fellow audiophiles until i started to try various isolation products.With so much choice from affordable to very expensive i found the hole subject very confusing and i did not know where to start. After trying lots of various products all shapes and sizes with very different results i decided to read reviews which is something i do not usually do to get some advise.I read a review on the Townshend audio seismic podiums they are isolation platforms that go under your speakers .This company is very famous for isolation ideas and have been around some 50 years based here in the UK they also had a factory in the USA back in the 1980s. I contacted Nick at Emporium hifi  and he agreed to install a pair for me so i could have a listen. My speakers are sound-lab dynastats which i use in quite a small room but with the adjustments give a nice sound. After installing the podiums we both sat down with jaws hitting the floor these podium things completely transformed the sound of my system to absolute perfection. After all this time trying various products under my equipment i have now isolated my speakers and the sound quality is exactly what i believe we all are chasing, my sound-labs are now transparent no more bass problems i have just got one big 3D sound stage the dynastats are now very open with deeper much better bass everything is perfect. I now believe isolating your loudspeakers is the first port of call i was so impressed by the Townshend audio seismic products i now sell them as i have never come across anything that has given my system such a great upgrade , the sound is the same as before but now its just so much better its playing deeper bass but tighter much more resolution and no boom , the midrange is so much more human sounding realistic and spacious with the top end so refined and perfect , is anyone using podiums and had the same experiences i would love to hear from you thank you john 
mains

Showing 2 responses by cellcbern

cellcbern's avatar
cellcbern
61 posts
 
Having tried every conceivable spike/footer/platform combination I have at this point satisfied my own ears that speakers should be isolated from the floor.  A speaker sounds best when it can "float" so that the cabinet can move in response to the movement of the drivers ("equal and opposite reaction.....").  The two product lines that reflect this relatively recent viewpoint are the expensive loudspeaker platforms from Townshend Audio, and the much more reasonable "Gaia" footers from Isoacoustics.  The view that speaker cabinets should be spiked to the floor so the cabinet is stationary and resonances are drained is simply obsolete.  On both concrete and wood floors, with and without carpet, my Merlin VSM's for example sound much more open and articulate on the "floating" Gaia footers than on the Merlin Z-feet or any other spikes.  I had Soundocity make me outriggers (for stability) with threaded holes so I can attach the Gaia footers instead of spikes.   See:

http://www.audiostream.com/content/isoacoustics-gaia-isolation-pucks#YTiJfV2Yw8kssDGk.97

http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/gaia-series/gaia-i/
cellcbern's avatar
cellcbern
61 posts
 
to toddverrone:

With a heavy speaker like my Merlins (85 lbs. ea.) they are rock solid stable on carpet.  With a much lighter speaker I don't know.  However the rubber base of the Gaia prevents the footer from sliding so I use corian boards with large felt discs on the bottom on my wood floor just so I can slide them around.  On carpet, a wood, corian, marble, glass, granite, etc. board by itself would provide an even surface and allow you to slide the speakers.  The photo of the Kef Blades at the Isoacoustics website, for example, shows a glass or acrylic board between the Gaia footers and the carpet:

http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/gaia-series/



 
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